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Criminal to Civil
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for investigating suspected criminal activity across the whole range of its responsibilities throughout the UK, including tax fraud and tax credit fraud involving organised crime. HMRC must carry out criminal tax investigations effectively if it is to protect the Exchequer, deter crime and reduce the social harm that crime causes whilst helping to deliver fairness. With the recent announcement that £900m will be made available to HMRC to tackle evasion and avoidance and fund an intended five-fold increase in criminal tax prosecutions during the course of this Parliament, criminal tax investigations will increase.
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Who conducts and prosecutes HMRC criminal casework?
Criminal tax investigation cases are conducted by HMRC's Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID), which has approximately 2,000 staff located throughout the UK. Since the formation of HMRC, the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) has undertaken the prosecution of HMRC's criminal casework. However, on 1 January 2010, the RCPO merged with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and tax prosecutions are now carried out by the CPS Central Fraud Group.
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Aren't criminal tax investigations resource intensive, expensive and time consuming?
Yes. The Comptroller and Auditor General's 2008–09 55th Report (HC712) Report on Tackling the Hidden Economy (published 9th December 2008) stated that in 2006–07 the average cost of a prosecution was £30,000. This far exceeded the average amount of tax detected (£11,260). Criminal tax investigations can take many years to complete and with complex criminal tax investigations costing over £100,000 a year to investigate, there is a real public interest in ensuring that an investigation results in a successful tax prosecution.
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Why do some criminal tax investigations not result in a successful tax prosecution?
There are various reasons why not every criminal tax investigation case results in a successful tax prosecution, including: -
- Insufficient evidence being obtained;
- Unreliable witnesses;
- The monetary level of the tax held to have been lost or put at risk is shown to be below HMRC's working de minimus thresholds for cases warranting criminal investigation/prosecution;
- Where the Prosecution has been found not to have disclosed material gathered in the course of the criminal tax investigation to the Defence, which undermines the case for the Prosecution or assisting the accused;
- Breaches by CID investigators of investigative regulations and procedures; and
- A case not being held to be in the public interest to prosecute.
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What happens to cases that don't result in a successful tax prosecution?
Where it is decided that a criminal tax investigation case doesn't warrant prosecution, the case and all the evidence obtained during the course of investigation is typically passed from HMRC's CID to either Specialist Investigations, Civil Investigation of Fraud teams or Local Compliance.
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How can OneE TDI help?
Despite HMRC's target to prosecute more tax fraud cases the reality is that if you come forward and make a full, voluntary, unprompted disclosure (either separate to or via one of HMRC's disclosure campaigns) then you will minimise the likelihood of you being criminally investigated. Therefore, if you know or suspect that you need to disclose undeclared income, profits and/or gains to HMRC, whether they arise in the UK or offshore, OneE TDI can successfully manage the disclosure process to protect you from potential criminal investigation and prosecution. We have up-to-date knowledge of all HMRC campaigns and disclosure facilities and offer confidential, non-judgemental advice to best defend our clients. Our advice saves our clients time and money and helps reduce their potential exposure to tax, interest and penalties.
At the core of OneE TDI is a highly experienced team specialising in all areas of tax disputes and investigations work. We are former HMRC inspectors/investigators – so we know how HMRC thinks! We are constantly dealing with inspectors/investigators so we have up to date insights into current practice and policy and consistently negotiate the best possible terms for our client without the case being criminally investigated or prosecuted.
If you find yourself subject of an HMRC criminal tax investigation you should immediately seek specialist representation to best protect your liberty, your reputation and your assets. OneE TDI works closely with the UK's leading criminal defence lawyers and we have a proven track record in defending clients under criminal tax investigation and working towards securing a change in the focus of the investigation from Criminal to Civil. Our Expert Witness & Forensic service includes a thorough review of any tax fraud allegation and the examination of any tax loss claims/computations put forward by HMRC providing alternative arguments/computations where appropriate.
Please see the Testimonials kindly provided by our clients (or their accountants or lawyers), which confirm our levels of client service.
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How can I contact OneE TDI?
If you would like a free, confidential, no obligation discussion with us please contact either Gary Rowson or Mark Taylor on 0800 652 6156 or complete and submit the online form below.
Whilst we endeavour to provide informative and accurate information, the content on this site is for general information purposes only and should not be taken to constitute tax or legal advice which must always be tailored to individual circumstances. Please contact us if you would like to discuss matters.
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Criminal Tax Investigations